The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) Shares Acquired by Plato Investment Management Ltd

Plato Investment Management Ltd lifted its position in shares of The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW) by 4.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,613 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 844 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $1,605,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in Charles Schwab by 2.8% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 27,350 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,773,000 after buying an additional 751 shares during the period. Pure Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in Charles Schwab by 12.8% in the third quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,480 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $355,000 after buying an additional 622 shares during the period. BSW Wealth Partners increased its position in Charles Schwab by 29.8% in the third quarter. BSW Wealth Partners now owns 5,847 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $379,000 after buying an additional 1,344 shares during the period. TrueWealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Charles Schwab in the third quarter worth $213,000. Finally, KG&L Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Charles Schwab in the third quarter worth $587,000. 84.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 14,643 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.70, for a total value of $1,181,690.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Arun Sarin sold 8,548 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.82, for a total value of $699,397.36. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 18,617 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,523,242.94. This trade represents a 31.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 487,820 shares of company stock valued at $39,938,849. Corporate insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Charles Schwab Trading Down 1.8 %

NYSE:SCHW opened at $78.08 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 1-year low of $61.01 and a 1-year high of $84.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $139.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.99. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $78.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $73.76.

Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCHW) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 21st. The financial services provider reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.11. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 18.20% and a net margin of 30.31%. The business had revenue of $5.33 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.19 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.68 EPS. Charles Schwab’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Charles Schwab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $0.27 dividend. This is an increase from Charles Schwab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Charles Schwab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.12%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SCHW has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Charles Schwab from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Redburn Partners lowered their price target on Charles Schwab from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Charles Schwab from $87.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on Charles Schwab from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $94.00 price target (up from $84.00) on shares of Charles Schwab in a report on Monday, December 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $86.33.

Charles Schwab Profile

The Charles Schwab Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a savings and loan holding company that provides wealth management, securities brokerage, banking, asset management, custody, and financial advisory services in the United States and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Investor Services and Advisor Services.